Concrete-mixing machine



June 8 ,1926. 1,588,206

W. L. STINE CONCRETE MIXING MACHINE 7 Filed July 16, 1925 Jfg Patented June 8, 1926.

WA TER L. FSTIINE-FOF LOS LAN 'ELES, CALIFORNIA.-

' boIm-RETEQWII-XIN-G MACi-HNE.

Apiilication filed July is, 1925. 'Seria1 No.;48,980.

My invention relates. generally "to concnete mixing machines and more particularly to automatically operating valvular means for ,controllingthe vohune ofthe water charges that are delivered to the mixing drum of the-machine. h I a It will be understoodthat \vliere'arelaqtively laifgeainoun't of concrete is mi redin batches, for instance, in paving or general building operations, it is always desirable,

and in some instances obligatory, that the batch mixtures be'uniforin, particularly in the Water content, and to this,e nd, itislthe principal object 'of my -invention, toprovide simple, efli cient' and positively acting valvular means for regulating and making uniform, tlievater charge volumes, that are delivered to the mixing drum ivith tlie' measured quantities ofcement, sand ,a-nd igi'avel or the likeithat make up the batch m xtures.

Further objects of my invention are, to

provide a water change regulating nansof the character referred to, that is of strong,

rugged structure, capable of b eingmeadfly installed and used on practically ,the standard forms of concrete'mixing machines now in'general use, and further, to provide a Water charge control is} directly from the skip that is util zed for delivering thebatch charges-of cement, sand Vith the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in- 'c'ei"tain novel features of construction and-arrangement of parts that will behereinatter more tully de scribed and claiinedand illustrated in the accompanying draxvings'iii which: i i

Fig. 1 is an elevationalfvierv of cfo'nven tional or standard form of coiicif'eteniixing machine with parts thereoibrolzen aivay and in section, a I

Fig. 2 is a vpe'rspe'c' tiv'e'viev'v "of the ater charge reg-hung valve and the actuating mechanism therefor.

on line 3-3 ofF '2.

on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2, Referring by numerals to the accompany- .ing drawings, vwhich illustrate a practical I embodimentof my invention 10, lOld e'sigh es" h f emem r efg.- h i s i s m chine, 11 the traction member, 12-the motor,

.jnste dand'set so as reg fio v-of ater through gp ip'e 2 L a Located in a hor zontal portion pip efit v y v Porti-Onoi. lever 32 and Fig. 4 is an enlaij'gedcross section taken.

preferably, an internal combustion engine,

that drives the usual mixing druin 13,,14 -}t-he -delivery chute into the dru1n, 15 the skip that hoists and discharges fthefc'enienn'sand and gravel or; the likeinto said delivery PATENT series, Y

chute, "16 the drum {that receives the hoisting cables l7 for, the 1,8 the elevated yvater supply tank, -1 9 t:he supplypipe that, delivers Water to drum through the valvular means contemplated by my invention.

Sk p l5 1s. ,usually prov ded on its rear side With a fixed arm9,2,},theiouterend of i hi PiYQfi U wime tedto nk123; the latteriin turn,beingpivotall-y connected t'ofl'an adjacent member oit main frameltl,

The. automatic valvular nieafns conte a platedby m ia'venaaa includes a duct, pref erab ly a pipe that leads lfrointhe lower portion of tan downwardly t a point above the" upper portioin oftthe inlet open? ingfinto drui'n .1,3',and the lovver end oi said 'vi p'e' is provided ivitli a nozzle 25 that is arletopening Locatedin a, globe or gate valve such las 26, having alian'd Wheel 21mm this v ve ma be adran ed todischarge vrater through said inate tlio volume is a han ing 28 for a valve 25,), which latter is carried byashort arm 29f, This arm is mounted on'asl'iaft 30 Jhaving bearing 31. in housing 28, and secured to oneend of said shaft outsidethe housing is the upper I I end. of a ldepending lever 32.7 A ,retractile 3 .is an enlarged detail section taken 35. This dqgis mounted sojthatit will engage with the lower end of lever '32 andfsaidtank and 20,-the-.mixed "con crete, discharge-chute. I M

I A pjredetermined amount of ater is ained in tank 18, by {means ofa float a ,vei t ical bortion oi ijipe is 7 swing the latter inwardl so as to en valve inwardly through its bearings 29, when rod 34 is moved in one direction and said rod moves in the opposite direction, said dog will strike against the lower end of lever and thereby be depressed so as to pass said lever.

Associated with rod is an expansive coil spring 36 that tends to normally force said rod outwardly to its limit. of movement.

Pivotally mounted on frame 10 below the outer end of rod 34 is a bell crank 37, and the end portion of one arm thereoi has a pin and slot connection 38 with the outer end of said rod.

Formed in the outer arm'of bell crank 37 is a series of apertures 39, in any one of which may be engaged the upper end of a rod 40, and the lower end of the latter is adapted to be engaged in any one of a series of apertures 41 that are formed in arm 22.

Under normal conditions or while skip is being loaded with the dry material, such as cement, sand, gravel or the like, the various operating parts of the mixer and water control valve occupy the positions as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 with dog 35 positioned immediately in front of the lower end of'lever 32, and with valve 29 closing the passageway through housing 28, said valve being held in this position under the influence ofspring 33. I

Valve 26 is manually adjusted and set so as to regulate the volume fiow of water through pipe 24 and a practically constant head of water is maintained in tank 18 by the action of float-controlled valve 21.

Motor 12 operates at constant speed, under control of a governor so that the pe-. riodic-time intervals required for the skip to be elevated into discharging position are uniform.

After the skip 15 receives the proper amounts of dry materials, the operator manipulates the proper control lever or mechanism to cause drums 16 to rotate, thereby winding cables 17 onto said drums, with the result that loaded skip 15 is elevated until it occupies an inclined position with its lower end positioned within and above chute 14, and by gravity, the charge of dry materials willpass from the skip over chute 14 into the mixing drum.

Simultaneous with the upward movement of the skip, bell crank 37 is swung upon its pivot, due to the movement connections 40 and 22, and as a result, rod 34 will be moved 33. As this movement takes place, dog 35 engages the lower end of lever 32, and swings same rearwardly, thereby swinging valve 29 upwardly within its housing and permitting water to discharge through pipe 24 and from noz- 21c 25 into the mixing drum.

Valve 29 will be held open for a fixed or predetermined time interval, or while lever 32 is engaged by dog 35 during the rearward travel of rod 34 and thus, a given amount of water will discharge into the mixing drum to mix with and moisten the concrete mixture produced therein.

Uniformity of the water charges thus delivered into the mixing drum insures um- .formity ot' wetness of the batches mixed of rod 40 in the apertures in arm 22 and bell crank 37,-but in practically all instances, the best results are obtained by making adjustments so that, as the rod travls inwardly, it will carry dog 35 past the end of lever 32, thereby permitting valve 29 to close with a quick movement, due to the retractive action of spring 33.

Thus valve 29 always opens and closes at predetermined times in the sequence of op erations.

On the outward or return stroke of rod 34, dog 35, in engaging the lower end of the lever 32, is depressed So as to pass said lever and after so doing, it is immediately swung upward so as to be positioned to reengage the lever on the subsequent rearward stroke of the rod.

As heretofore stated motor 12 operates at constantspeed under control of'a governor so that the speed upward swinging movement of the skip is always the same. Thus, the time periods of inward travel of rod 34 and the open intervals of valve 29 are always the same,'thereby producing uniformity of water charges to the batches mixed in drum 13, andconsequently insur- .ing uniformity of mixture in a large quanti'ty of concrete that is produced by a batch mixing machine.

The uniformity of mixture is always desirable, particularly when large quantities of batch mixed concrete are used in paving and building operations, and where the ma chine is used in the production or" large quantities of'concrete under supervision of an inspector, the adjustable portions of the water control means may be suitably sealed by the person in charge, thereby preventing readjustments by unauthorized persons, and consequentv variance of the water charges.

Inasmuch as the delivery of the water charge is automatically effected with'my to manually open a valve or the like and measure the Water charge that enters the mixing drum.

Thus the operator has more time to give to other duties about the mixing machine,

and the number of batches mixed per hour While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that various minor changes in the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improved water charge control device, may be made and substituted'for those herein shown and de-' scribed without departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims. I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a concrete mixing machine and its charging skip, of a Water tank on the upper portion of the machine, means for maintaining a practically constant volume of water within said tank, a pipe leading from said tank for carrying a gravity flow of water into the vmixing drum of the machine, and valvular means adapted to be operated by said skip during the greater portion of the charging movement thereof for permitting water to flow through said pipe during the greater part of the charging movement of the skip.

2. The combination with a concrete mix ing machine and its charge skip, of a water tank located on the upper portion of the machine, means for maintaining a practically constant volume of water within said tank, a pipe leading from said tank for carrying a gravity flow of water into the mixing drum of said machine, a valve in said pipe and means adapted to be actuated by said skip during the greater portion of the charging movement thereof for open- 'ing said valve to permit the flow of water from the tank into the mixing drum during the greater part of the charging movementof said skip.

3. The combination with concrete mixing machine and its charging skip, of a water tank located on the upper portion of the machine, means for maintaining a practically constant volume of Water within said tank, a pipe leading from said tank for carr in a ravit Y flow of water into the D O mixing drum of said machine, a valve in said pipe, means adapted to be actuated by said skip during the greater portion of the charging movement thereof for opening said valve to permitthe flow of water from the tank into the mixing drum during the greater part of thecharging movement of said skip, andja portion of which valve actuaiting means is adjustable in order to regulate thetime interval of the opt-ming movement imparted to said valve.

4. The combination with a concrete mixing machine and its charging skip, of a Water tank on the upper portion of said mixing machine and adapted to discharge the machine, means for maintalning-a practically constant volume of water in said tank, a valve in the discharge pipe and ad justable means adapted to be actuated by the skip during the greater portion of the charging movement thereof for opening the valve in said water discharge pipe to permit the flow of water from the tankinto the mixing drum during the greater part of the charging movement of said skip.

5. The combination with a concrete mixing machine and its charging skip, of a water tank on the upper portion of said mixing machine, a pipe leading from said tank downwardly into the mixing drum of the machine whereby water may flow by gravity from said tank into said drum, means 'for maintaining a practically constant head of water in the tank, means adapted to be actuated by the skip during the greaterv portion of its charging movement for permitting water to flow by gravity during the greater part of the charging movement of the skip through the pipe from v the tank into themixing drum and means associated with said skip-actuated means WALTER L. STINE. 

